Skip to main content
Answer

First Interrail Trip – Seat Reservations & Tips Needed

  • April 19, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 103 views
T

Hi everyone! 👋

 

My partner and I are planning our very first Interrail trip this summer (from late July to mid-August), and we’d love to get some advice from the community.

 

Here’s our itinerary:

Munich → Vienna → Hallstatt → Ljubljana → Venice → Lake Como → Milan

 

We’ve already booked all our accommodations, but we’re still unsure about seat reservations.

Would you recommend booking them in advance for any of these routes? Are there any journeys where reservations are strongly advised or even mandatory? We’re aware that some come with an additional fee.

Also, if we travel without a reservation, is it possible we could be denied boarding?

 

And finally, if you have any tips for first-time Interrailers, we’d love to hear them!

Packing hacks, train tricks, scenic routes, or just things you wish you’d known before your first trip.

 

Thanks so much in advance 🙏 and happy travels to all of you!

Best answer by BrendanDB

First tip, use www.bahn.com/en or www.oebb.at/en to plan.

Second, Germany and Austria only know optional reservations on long distance services (IC, Railjet, ICE,...). You can board with any valid ticket, find a free seat. Although you’re travelling in high season, personal recommendation to get seat reservations on busy times and for infrequent international connections, especially the week-ends in summer. During the week it’ll be okay to find free seats. You’ll see on a screen above the seat if it reserved or not.

Reserve seats at the respective website, cost is minor, only a couple of euro’s per journey per passenger: 5,2 EUR per passenger/per journey in Germany, 3 EUR in Austria per train.

Third: mandatory reservations on high speed trains in Italy for about 10 Eur per seat. You can avoid it by taking regional trains. Availability is usually good and mostly you can get a reservation on the day itself in the station. You can get them online via www.raileurope.com or www.oebb.at/en (book like normal ticket, but add interrail as a discount under passenger details). Without these reservations you’ll be refused entry, get a fine or get kicked out of the train at the next stop.

I usually check a couple of days before travelling and get your seat reservations when the train seems busy in countries with optional reservations. If not busy, hop on and find free seats and spare you the cost. The local train websites/apps will give a prognosis on how busy they expect it to be.

If you’re stuck finding seat reservations: here’s a community made guide.

1 reply

BrendanDB
Full steam ahead
Forum|alt.badge.img+8
  • BrendanDB
  • Full steam ahead
  • Answer
  • April 19, 2025

First tip, use www.bahn.com/en or www.oebb.at/en to plan.

Second, Germany and Austria only know optional reservations on long distance services (IC, Railjet, ICE,...). You can board with any valid ticket, find a free seat. Although you’re travelling in high season, personal recommendation to get seat reservations on busy times and for infrequent international connections, especially the week-ends in summer. During the week it’ll be okay to find free seats. You’ll see on a screen above the seat if it reserved or not.

Reserve seats at the respective website, cost is minor, only a couple of euro’s per journey per passenger: 5,2 EUR per passenger/per journey in Germany, 3 EUR in Austria per train.

Third: mandatory reservations on high speed trains in Italy for about 10 Eur per seat. You can avoid it by taking regional trains. Availability is usually good and mostly you can get a reservation on the day itself in the station. You can get them online via www.raileurope.com or www.oebb.at/en (book like normal ticket, but add interrail as a discount under passenger details). Without these reservations you’ll be refused entry, get a fine or get kicked out of the train at the next stop.

I usually check a couple of days before travelling and get your seat reservations when the train seems busy in countries with optional reservations. If not busy, hop on and find free seats and spare you the cost. The local train websites/apps will give a prognosis on how busy they expect it to be.

If you’re stuck finding seat reservations: here’s a community made guide.

T
Terms and Conditions & Privacy PolicyAccessibility statement